Vision of Love
by bridgetlynn
Summary: Life can be rough - roll with the punches or fall on your face. Rachel Berry's life didn't turn out how she initially planned; and, she's never been happier. All because Noah Puckerman taught her to roll. Then together they learned what love really can be
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Glee is owned by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, 20th Century Fox Television and any production companies associated with said persons. This is written purely for entertainment and to alleviate my own immense boredom. I am gaining nothing financially.

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><p>Rachel Berry stared at her reflection in the full length mirror as she carefully ran her hands down the front of her dress, barely touching it but trying to smooth non-existent wrinkles while nervously checking for any sign that the dress hugged her too closely in the bodice. There were certain things that weren't anyone's business just yet and the people she knew from Lima had already been sending her far too many contemplative looks since she had arrived back in town two months earlier.<p>

She just wished she could turn her brain off for five minutes; something she hadn't really been able to do for the last two months.

In a last ditch effort, she had sent her small group of well meaning friends (all of whom, except for Kurt, were from college) and her fathers away seconds earlier after begging for a few minutes to herself so she could breathe and calm her rapid fire thoughts; now she couldn't help but wonder if that wasn't one of the worst ideas she had ever had.

The room was just too quiet _not_ to think.

And all she could think about was whether or not she was making a mistake. She knew she _wanted_ this, there was no denying that; but, she suddenly wasn't sure if it was the best decision. She couldn't help hearing her father's voices from the night she had broken the news, back in the middle of April, one month before graduating from college. They hadn't reacted the way she had expected - there had been no animosity, no disappointment and only support. Then she had told them the rest of the news and suddenly they were full of opinions - she was too young, it was too fast, she should wait a few years.

The irony was that Rachel had actually braced herself for both reactions; she had just expected each reaction to be for the opposing piece of the news.

Though, instead of caving, Rachel had stood by her decisions and now, almost three months to the day, her fathers also stood behind her and supported her completely as they always had with everything in her life. So the fact that she was suddenly wondering if they were initially correct was troubling.

The sound of her cell phone buzzing on the dressing table startled her out of her thoughts and when she saw who the text message was from, and what it said, every single doubt that had sprung up disappeared instantly.

_'I'll see you soon. I'll be the one in the front of the room. I love you.'_

She laughed lightly and fanned her eyes with her hands, because Kurt would kill her if she ruined his work, while she studied her reflection again. This time all she could see was a confidant young woman who knew she was making the most important, and most correct, decision _for _her life at the moment.

The nervously excited laughter bubbled up again as she thought of what fifteen (sixteen and seventeen) year old Rachel Berry, who chased after Finn Hudson as though he was the personification of male perfection and actually expected to win a Tony Award by the age of twenty-five, would say if she knew what twenty-two year old Rachel Berry was about to do.

She was fairly certain that her high school self would be insisting that she visit a psychiatrist instantly; not to mention the insane tantrum she would throw over the whole situation. Because, _every_ dream that little girl had, dreams that hadn't budged a inch by high school graduation, were _significantly_ altered just over four years later. There was _certainly_ no Finn Hudson anywhere to be found and, more shockingly, there was no Broadway in the immediate future.

Rachel was _incredibly_ glad she was no longer that girl.

Because the woman she was now, two months after graduating from New York University with what amounted to essentially three majors, a Bachelors of Music "five year" dual degree from the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development in Music Composition & Theory with a Masters of Music Education and a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Drama from the Tisch School of the Arts, had a different level of maturity then that teenager. The woman she was know knew what it was like to see older friends graduate and struggle to even get a chorus role in an Off-Broadway production. The woman she was now knew what it was like to spend four years doubling up on classes and never going home for breaks, because she was taking even more classes, to finish those degrees in four years. The woman she was now knew what it was like to live in a small studio in Brooklyn with second hand furniture, eat ramen noodles daily, go without heat or electric some weeks and _still _be tight on rent money.

The woman she was now didn't just have a dream for the future, she had a_ vision _for it.

She was in Lima by _choice_, she was less than ten minutes from walking into the Temple she had grown up in to marry her _college_ boyfriend, she was three weeks away from moving into a very small, but lovely, three bedroom home in _Cambridge, Massachusetts _(her father's wedding present after they had come around to the idea of the wedding), she was a month away from starting her initial job with the American Repertory Theatre in Boston as a _Box Office Manager _(they _wanted_ her as an _actress_; but had made concessions after she promised to be available next year for the start of the 2018 season) and she was just about five months away from being a _mother_ for the first time.

High School Rachel Berry would never understand the vision and would only focus on the "dream" without seeing the reality that surrounded her.

She wouldn't understand falling in the most intense, _truest love _with her best friend halfway through her sophomore year of college. She wouldn't understand caring _more_ about her _friends_ then herself and realizing, through the pain of her friend's struggles, the _smarter _way to pursue the dream. She wouldn't understand deciding in her _junior year _of college, well before any child or wedding was even an idea, that acting in a _regional theatre _for a few years and building up her resume was the best way to go about it. She wouldn't understand how the American Repertory Theatre in Boston became her _top_ choice of regional theatres the same day the acceptance letter from Boston University Medical School, her (by then) fiance's first choice school, arrived in the mail at the end of March. She wouldn't understand how Boston became the _only_ choice three weeks later when the stick turned pink.

High School Rachel Berry's world revolved around Glee, Finn Hudson and the dream of Broadway stardom that she felt entitled to. Twenty-two year old Rachel Berry's world revolved around Noah Puckerman, their child, the life they were building and the vision of how amazing it would be as they each worked towards their personal dreams by each others sides.

Did she still want Broadway in the future? Absolutely. Would she be disappointed if she didn't get it? Probably. Would she survive either way? Without a doubt.

Because unlike fifteen, sixteen and seventeen year old Rachel Berry's _idea_ of what love was based on her relationship with Finn Hudson? Unlike the child she was then, never knowing if he truly loved her back? Twenty-two year old Rachel Berry _knew_ that Noah Puckerman's world revolved around her just as much as her's revolved around him. He only proved it further the night Rachel agreed to marry him (back in January) when he promised that as soon as he finished medical school they'd go back to New York (she hadn't yet told him that _her_ plans involved going wherever _he_ got the best residency offer - every major city has a theatre community); and again the night she agreed to marry him sooner then planned when he repeated that promise.

For twenty-two year old Rachel Berry, that was _more_ then enough.

With that memory bolstering her confidence even further Rachel quickly typed a reply into her phone and exhaled. She was ready.

_'See you soon my love. I'll be the one in white.'_

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><p><strong>AN: **A few things/warnings/explanations/etc:  
><strong>1) <strong>This is something I've been working on for a few months (on and off). I'm posting the prologue for not other reason other then I felt like if I didn't, right now, I might not ever.  
><strong>2) <strong>It's going to be slowly updated (like, really slowly) because I'm putting it together kind of like a quilt - I have these little pieces written (present and flashbacks) that have to be woven together to form the full picture. We're going to progress pretty far through Noah and Rachel's lives in the present (from the wedding onward) _and_ see exactly how they got there (in love, their career choices, etc) in the first place through flashbacks that in some cases go all the way back to childhood. So hopefully everyone will bear with me on this one.  
><strong>3) <strong>One of my best friend's actually has the degree Rachel got in the story; girl busted her ass but pulled it off. So it is possible. Just heading that one off at the pass.  
><strong>4) <strong>So far, based on what I have written, this will have a very different feel then any of my other Puckleberry stories. This is Future AU, so, if things seem ever "OOC" please keep in mind that the characters are not in HS anymore and things have happened to them in their lives.  
>I had long conversations with some friends who moved into various big cities to attend college and looked at how they changed when faced with suddenly being "adults" on their own for the first time. I remembered how their priorities shifted and how they matured (or in some cases, did not mature). I also had long discussions with the friends of mine that were young parents for various reasons (we're all late 20searly 30s now). There are going to be moments of some fairly insane angst, but there will also be some moments of fairly insane fluff. I'm going for a massive dose of "reality" with this story. It's essentially an examination of life, love and how it changes you for the better or for the worse depending on how you roll with the punches (on that note - yes, the other Gleeks will appear both in present and in flashback and yes, this idea will apply to them as well - so expect to see "different" characters depending on where we are in everyone's lives and how they've coped with adulthood).

If you've read this far, I applaud and thank you. And I promise to _never _write another novel length A/N again. I always appreciate feedback and constructive criticism and do my best to reply to everyone who takes the time to do so (but I love all of you).


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: **See Prologue_**.  
><strong>_

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><p><em><strong>February 2012<strong>_

He didn't think it would be this difficult. He didn't think, after Juvie, that he'd even get an actual choice in the matter and had resigned himself to living at home for another two years until he could transfer somewhere. Hell, he'd only sent all the various applications out of pure desperation; the idea of the more you throw, the more chance you'll hit something.

Twenty different college applications; his mother had shrugged and said, "Fees be damned. This we can happily afford." (Apparently a child scoring a 1580 on the SATs shocks parents into writing checks) Fifteen had returned so far. Only two had been small envelopes. He wasn't remotely shocked about which two either (even he knew Harvard and Yale had been a stretch with his disciplinary records; it had just been amusing to watch Ms. Pillsbury's face when he told her he was applying).

He figured he should probably get around to opening the fat envelopes soon.

The sound of a body dropping into the chair next to him in the choir room pulled Noah Puckerman out of his silent debate and forced him to pay attention to his, apparently, angry...Finn. He couldn't in good conscience say best friend anymore, not even in his own head. Mostly because he was fairly certain the person who had in the last year claimed the actual title (at least internally for him) of best friend was the cause Finn's obvious anger. And he didn't need to add (not so unfounded) jealousy to said anger.

"What's wrong?"

"Rachel."

"Rachel's...wrong? Well, that's something you don't hear everyday."

"Very funny. Don't be a dick."

"Wasn't trying to be," he muttered back, not really wanting to get sucked into any of the on-going "Finchel" drama. Especially since he knew exactly what it was about.

"She won't even consider going to OSU with me! She laughed at me!"

Puck couldn't help but snort at the exclamation and only rolled his eyes when Finn glared at him. He waited a few seconds for the other boy to elaborate and when he didn't all Puck could do was ask, "Did you really expect her to do something else when you asked?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

The incredulous look on Finn's face had Puck shaking his head, once again, at the sheer stupidity the other male was displaying. It also made him thankful that no one (no one) knew about the stack of envelopes sitting in his bedroom. As far as the rest of his friends were concerned Puck would be attending OSU's Lima Campus until he told them differently. Mostly because he was pissed that the people he called friends just assumed the same things about him as everyone else.

"No seriously dude," Puck continued. "Why do you expect her to give up New York? She told you when you got back together last year that she wasn't giving up New York. Not even for you. Your whole fucked up relationship had a disclaimer on it from the get go. Don't go acting shocked and annoyed now."

"But, I thought I could change her mind."

"Yea, okay," Puck replied, rolling his eyes right in Finn's face as he spoke. "The girl got a full ride to Julliard, a partial to NYU, a full ride to UCLA and a full ride to Oklahoma City University. And those are only the schools that gave her scholarships. Why the hell should she stay in Ohio?"

"Because I love her."

"Well then, why the hell didn't you apply to somewhere other then OSU? It's not like you're going to be playing football for the Buckeyes. You could have given something up for her for once." When Finn only stared back at him Puck sighed and stood up, letting the other boy stew in his thoughts, mostly thankful that the application deadlines for the fall semester at basically every other college in the US had passed a month earlier. "I'm gonna bounce. Tell Schue I had to head home and couldn't get out of it. I've got some shit to do."

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><p>Hours later he was sitting in the same spot on his bedroom floor that he had claimed when he walked in after skipping Glee. He was still surrounded by envelopes, including the all important one that had been waiting in the mailbox when he got home, and he still wasn't any closer to making a decision then he had been that afternoon.<p>

He had to admit he was a little grateful that his waiting until that specific envelope had arrived hadn't caused him to miss any acceptance deadlines.

A quiet knock on his bedroom door finally pulled his attention from the glare he had been sending all the paperwork that surrounded him.

"Come in," he half shouted and wasn't surprised to see Rachel Berry standing in the doorway. "Hey."

"Hi Noah," she greeted him and walked into the room, closing the door behind her. When she didn't say anything else he looked up in confusion and almost laughed at the expression that was on her face. It was a cross between confused and ridiculously happy. "What's all of this?"

"Apparently I'm smart," he responded in a self-deprecating tone and gestured towards the rows of various sized envelopes. "College acceptances."

"Oh Noah!" she squealed with jumping; then for a half second he was afraid she was going to throw herself across the room to hug him and mess up his, half-assed, organization. "Why didn't you tell me? I've been asking where you were planning on going for the last two weeks since everyone started getting word from schools."

"I dunno," he admitted quietly, chuckling when she started carefully picking her away across the room until she could sit beside him on the floor. "Everyone just assumed I was going to OSU Lima and I guess I figured I'd let them."

"Well, that's just stupid of them," she replied, looking incredibly put out for him. So, explain this please since apparently you've failed to be completely truthful with me for a while now."

"Alright," he began, refusing to acknowledge what he knew was a very unmanly pout on his face. "So, thing is? I'm not really as dumb as everyone thinks."

"I know that! You've been on independent study for math for every single year of high school," she interrupted immediately, punching him lightly on the arm and leaving him to roll his eyes at her. "Wait...do they all really think you just skip? How does someone skip a class every single day for four years and ever pass?" she continued and then seemed to catch his slight glare. "Right, shutting up."

"I really only had a problem with my grades during the beginning of Junior Year when I was dealing with all the emotional shit with Beth and Juvie and stuff," he continued, smirking when she only nodded along because he knew she wanted to interject something and was forcing herself to keep quiet. "Well, by second semester of Junior Year things were back on track and I've kept it up. I also, may have, sort of, gotten a 1580 on my SAT's," he finished quickly and avoided the gobsmacked look on her face.

"You...Noah that's almost a perfect score!"

"Yea, I know. I knew I was, ya know, technically smart and shit but that's sort of ridiculous," he replied with a slight laugh. "I kinda wanna know what I got wrong. It was probably on the English section. My mom says I've got a math and science brain."

"NOAH!" she squealed and that's when he got the ecstatic hug he had been expecting from his best friend. "Oh my goodness. This is amazing!"

"Thanks Rach," he whispered quietly into her ear. He slowly pulled back and then groaned as he saw the envelopes again, "Now I just need to decide where I'm going. I only just opened them."

He almost laughed when Rachel immediately paled and began babbling, "You only just opened them? Noah that's irresponsible. What if you've missed deadlines. That would limit your choices substantially."

"Whoa there, slow your roll midget," he immediately cut in, waving his hands in front of her face. "I'm covered. I just checked. I also only heard from sixteen of the twenty schools I applied to."

"Alright," Rachel responded, quieting now that he had told her that no deadlines had been missed. "So, where do you want to go?"

Therein lay his dilemma. The response he had been waiting for had been from NYU. He had not only gotten in but had received a partial scholarship that would cover a quarter of his yearly tuition for four years. He wanted to go to NYU. He was fairly certain that Rachel would be going to NYU as well; and if not, she'd be in New York (she had told him earlier in the week that it was either NYU or Julliard for certain now that she had heard back from all of her schools). The problem was that the University of Arizona and OSU had offered him full rides and Texas A&M had offered him more money than NYU had (which he really thought just boiled down to it being cheaper to live anywhere in Texas then in Manhattan). No one else had offered scholarships (so they were out), which wasn't a surprise - that one semester hadn't totally fucked him, but it hadn't done him any massive favors either.

"Where do I want to go or where should I be smart and accept?"

"Where do you want to go?" she repeated decisively.

"New York," he told her honestly, but kept it vague. "I got into NYU, Hunter College and Fordham. I also got into Hofstra, but that's on Long Island and I checked the commute to Manhattan and it's like Lima to Columbus, even if their train system makes it super easy."

"Alright, so what's the problem?"

"University of Arizona and OSU offered me full rides and Texas A&M offered me more money then NYU did. Those are the only colleges that even offered any money, so the rest are out anyway."

"Well, I don't want to influence your decision at all."

"Surreee you don't."

"No Noah," she said in one of the most serious tones he'd ever heard her use with him. "I really don't want to influence your decision. This is something you have to talk to your mother about. But, I will tell you that I sent in my acceptance to NYU in this morning's mail."

"Not Julliard?"

"Nope, and if you tell anyone else this I will deny until I'm blue in the face, Julliard is far focused on the performing arts. I want to go to college and learn something realistic...just in case."

"I get it," he replied nodding. He really did. "I really want New York Rach," he added quietly, leaning back against his bed frame and frowning.

"Talk to your mother," she insisted. "There are loans and various forms of financial aid available."

"I should be responsible," he muttered and picked up the two envelopes that had full four year scholarships in them.

"You should be happy," Rachel replied quietly and leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder. "And I'll miss you. You're my best friend Noah."

"I thought you didn't want to influence my decision?"

"I thought you didn't believe me?"

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><p>A week after the conversation in his bedroom Puck found himself strutting into McKinley High with a genuine smile on his face for one of the first times ever as he searched out the tiny form of his best friend. He found her a few minutes later, at her locker with a few of the other Gleeks, and immediately scooped her up and swung her around.<p>

"Noah Puckerman put me down this instant!"

"Sure Rach," he replied, depositing her on her feet. "Just get used to it. Cause next year that's how I'm going to say hi every day."

He almost laughed at the confused looks on the others faces but instead focused on Rachel and watched as she processed what he said. He spotted the exact second it clicked and opened his arms to accept the armful of girl that jumped on his squealing happily.

"Really?" she asked, leaning back to stare into his face.

"Really. My Mom said I deserved to go where I'd be happiest. She figured if I was miserable I'd fuck up and blow my scholarships anyway," he explained, still ignoring the confused looks (and now stormy expression on Finn). "She's probably right," he admitted a second later, before placing Rachel back on the ground.

"We're going to make New York City our bitch Noah," Rachel stated firmly with an abrupt nod.

"Hell yea we are."

"But don't think I'm going to let you slack off now buster," she added and he just barely managed to contain his groan of disbelief. He should have seen that coming a mile away. He was smart and could do advanced math in his head; don't mistake that for actually liking school.

"Would someone please explain what the hell is going on?" Finn finally snapped out and Puck almost felt bad when Rachel turned to glare at her boyfriend; however, before whatever argument the two were going to get into ruined his good mood he quickly excused himself and headed to his, elective, first period physics class.

He'd made the decision a long time ago to let people assume whatever they wanted about him and give them the badass image they expected; if they were too stupid to take a look at what classes he took (kinetic energy, electrons and calculus just made more sense to him then, say, Shakespeare) and how teachers seemed to let him get away with murder and still advance him then that was not his fault.

Noah Puckerman didn't need to explain himself to anyone.

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><p><strong>AN:** Sorry this took so long. In my defense, I said it'd take a while to update.

Here we have our first flashback. This was meant to explain how Rachel and Puck wound up in NYC at school together. Note about Puck - I doubt (highly doubt) Ryan Murphy and Co. intend on his character to be the way I see him but I don't really care. I keep his attitude and I keep his bluster...but to be honest, the boy strikes me as FAR more intelligent then the writers seem to give him credit for. I always keep this intelligence in my stories for a few reasons - mostly because he reminds me of this kid I went to HS with. He was a jock, he hated school and he could calculate Pi to 20 digits in his head. It also made music come ridiculously easy to him (due to the correlation between math and music I assume). Also, logically, Puck's daily naps during Math class should basically have him be failing out of school by default...logic isn't always Ryan Murphy's friend but it does tend to play well with me. *shrug*

Hope you enjoyed this. Not positive what will happen in the next part but it will go back to the present tense. It could either be the wedding itself...or very soon after the wedding. Any preferences?


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